Like most families, we have framed photographs scattered throughout our home. Most of them don’t have names. They might be casually referred to as, “the girls on the ski trip,” but they’re not officially named.

All except for one.

There is one picture in our home formally entitled, “DeseBoys, DeyDon’tHabAMom!” James named it. He personally represents 1/2 of the motherless orphans pictured in the photograph, so it seemed only fair that he was granted the naming rights.

Back when we lived in Phoenix, there was a photography studio in Scottsdale’s tony Fashion Square Mall that would photograph your children and you could take your selections home with you that very same day.

I dressed up our sons, ages 4 and 18 mos and drove them north to Scottsdale. Everything went south from there.

A total disaster. I’m sure you recall it involved every end of their miniature digestive systems, everything in my arsenal of a diaper bag, up to and including spare outfits and every ounce of my energy and patience.

But we got the stinkin’ picture, we did!

Fast forward many hours later that night. You were still at work, the girls were busy doing their homework, the boys were playing at my feet pushing their wooden trains around the track, when all of a sudden James addressed me,

“It’s Me James. You see dese boys?”

I look at what he’s holding and he has the picture. I had already put it in a large wooden and glass frame, so it was wobbling around in his arms, almost bigger than he was. He jab, jab, jabs his chubby little finger at the two little lads in the portrait and asks me again more emphatically,

“You see dese boys?”

I wondered to myself, ‘Where is this Tiny Toddler Attorney going with this line of questioning?’ One thing was clear, I certainly wasn’t going to get anywhere by being a hostile witness…

“Yes, I see those boys!”

“You see dese boys? (jab, jab, jab) Dese boys, dey don’t hab a Mom!”

I was crushed! How could he suggest they didn’t have a mother? Especially after the calamitous day we had endured together? I prided myself at one point on how calm, loving and patient I had become in my tenure as a mom. It took a lot to rattle me these days.

Back when I was getting pictures made of the girls, I would’ve had a total meltdown with the children, but I’m on kids #4 and #5. I’m a veteran, a battle-ax, a seasoned professional.

Dose boys do too hab a mom! One helluva Mom!

Later, when you arrived home, we got the biggest kick out of it. You helped me decipher his complicated little baby brain trail. We figured out that I was so omnipresent in his and his little brother’s lives, that he was confused by the photograph.

I was there, but I wasn’t. He HAD a mom, but then in the actual picture, she disappeared. Our brilliant little 4 year old was grappling with the concepts of object permanence and impermanence on a larger scale…

He knew I had played a significant role in getting them to that point. In fact, I was standing right beside them, posing them and jumping out of the frame right before the photographer snapped the lens.

Now you see her, now you don’t!

That’s what it feels like for us since you died. Like you got us all set and then (poof!) you just disappeared. We don’t get it. We have questions.

jab

jab

jab

Last night was Tommy’s prom. We had the suit. I bought a tie. I ordered the corsage. His dress shoes actually still fit. One might think we were good-to-go. But I had already anticipated our problem. None of us knows how to tie a tie. None of us. You took that skill set to the grave with you, Honey.

But, I thought we would just take the tie with us to the Parent Paparazzi beforehand and one of the dads there could tie it. But Tom was having none of it. So Gracie jumped in and face-timed Brock and they tried to do it backwards over the phone. Then Tommy’s friend arrived to pick him up and tweaked it a bit. It all came together in the end. But, we needed you here.

And didn’t you have a little pre-prom schtick whereby you first put the tie in a little “choke–hold” around their necks before you tied it on them in a lighthearted little demonstration of what would happen to them if they misbehaved at any point during the evening?

Your parenting style was unique, but ever so effective.

This morning, the first thing my eyes alighted on as I rolled over and stared across the vast emptiness of your side of the bed, was the infamous picture, “DeseBoys.”

And I was reminded of a few things…

I was so very THERE that day. So present in the moment that it was almost insulting that James thought he didn’t “have me” just because he couldn’t see me. Simply because I wasn’t in the picture.

Surely that’s how it must be with you now. You were omnipresent as a father. Our favorite scripture for raising children was Deuteronomy 11:19 (remember you used to call the boys “Dude–aronomy?”) That scripture is about teaching your children how to live. “When you wake up in the morning, when you walk down the road, when you lie down at night.” You did all that. Those boys knew your views on life inside and out.

You gave them everything they needed. They can quote you chapter and verse on the stuff that really matters in life. Even after you’ve stepped out of the frame…

And they can watch a YouTube tutorial on anything else they need to know.

You bring tears to my eyes, and laughter to my heart every time you post! Great smiles, great Hope ! Such a Dude in that picture! So loved by you and his daddy who is definitely “there” but not pictured. You are right, you are a hecka- terrific mom! You love them inside and out and never stop! Tommy will always remember this day, and this tie situation, and I am sure that Jimmy would say, ” You done good, pretty Mama!” Hugs and Prayers continue Ms. Leslie. Keep up the good work that God gave you to do. You are a blessing to so many! – Jeanne Browne

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the NEW CREATION has come..” 2 Corinthians 5:15-19. “…the Word of the Lord remains forever!” 1 Peter 1;24-25

Leslie your insight is amazing! You somehow put into words what the rest of us merely have fleeting thoughts about! It gives us all a new perspective on life.
You are one talented lady Miss Gingersnapped!